Iran's underground drone fleet in Zagros mountain: See pictures
Iran began developing UAVs in the 1980s
Iranian state television broadcast footage of an Air Force base for drones under the Zagros mountain range in the west of the country.
The exact location of the base was not revealed, although the TV reporter said he travelled on a helicopter for nearly 40 minutes from the city of Kermanshah to reach it.
Iran started developing drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in the 1980s during its eight-year war with Iraq.
Iran dispatching fleets of drones to Middle East
The US and Israel accuse Iran of dispatching fleets of drones to its proxies in the Middle East, including Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, the regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Yemen's Huthi rebels.
Video aired on state television showed Iran's armed forces chief of staff General Mohammad Bagheri and army commander Abdolrahim Mousavi visiting the underground site.
'We never assume the enemy is asleep'
"More than 100 combat, reconnaissance and attack drones belonging to the army are kept for operations in this base located in the heart of the Zagros mountains," the report said.
Bagheri, quoted by the official news agency IRNA, described the site as a "safe operational base for strategic drones".
"We never underestimate threats, we never assume the enemy is asleep, and we are constantly alert and vigilant," he added.
Kaman-22 drone
Mousavi told state television the base was located "several hundred metres (yards) underground", without giving further details.
State TV said the flagship of the fleet was the "Kaman-22", a drone equipped with missiles and able to fly at least 2,000 kilometres.
Revolutionary Guard Corps under scanner
The US Treasury slapped sanctions on the drone programme of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in October last year.
It accused the Guards of being behind a September 2019 drone strike on a Saudi oil refinery, as well as a July 2021 drone attack on a commercial ship off the coast of Oman that killed two crewmen.
Iran denied the charges.
US-led coalition troops targeted in Iraq
Two rockets targeting a base in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition troops on Saturday crashed near the complex without causing casualties or damage, security sources said.
The base, controlled by Iraq, is located in the desert in the western Anbar province and hosts foreign troops from the coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
A previously unknown group calling itself "International Resistance" claimed the attack on a pro-Iran channel of messaging app Telegram.
Rockets and drones frequently target the Ain al-Asad base.
Pro-Iran factions in drone attack
On April 8, the coalition said it shot down an armed drone targeting the facility, reporting no casualties or damage.
Dozens of rocket and armed drone attacks have targeted US troops and interests in Iraq in recent months.
Western officials have blamed hardline pro-Iran factions for the attacks, most of which go unclaimed.
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